#program!rewrite

[⚫]

* Rewrite's influence begins the second you open the sonic.exe file. They are the program, actually, and you just unknowingly invited a supernatural entity into your computer. * They present themself as a normal playable Sonic game. It's off, of course, like some bootleg version of Sonic. But it's what draws you in. * What happens next depends entirely on your actions. Close the game at a certain point, they'll keep note and try something different next time. If something keeps your attention, or there's a specific part of the game you keep playing, they will expand on that. The game itself changes as you play it. Anything to keep you here. To keep them open. -> You explore the environment a lot? You'll find it to be more expanded upon. Go out of your way to collect rings or collectibles? You'll see more of them now. * Sonic, Rewrite's vessel, acts completely under your control. For now. * Why do the characters seem so lively? When you talk to them, they say... Odd things. -> "Can you help me?" "What is this place?" "Please stop." -> But don't worry!! After a while, you stop seeing them. Everything is fine!! * At first, they behave like a normal computer program, and Sonic acts like a normal video game character. But as their influence progresses...

[⭕]

* Once Rewrite reaches their 1 ring stage, they gain awareness of You. They act akin to a virus as they do whatever they can to keep your attention. Their game randomly boots up, popups and notifications will begin plaguing you. -> "sonic.exe - Play now!" -> "sonic.exe - Sonic misses you!" -> "sonic.exe - You're missing out on the Fun!" * From this point forward, they will leave images and text files for you to find! You're welcome. -> hello.txt - :) -> welcome back.txt - I missed you! -> SONIC.txt - (ascii art of Sonic) -> SONICMISSESYOU.png - (Sonic giving a thumbs up at the camera) -> READ ME.TXT - 私を目撃して。 * Sonic at this point begins moving on his own accord. If you sit idly for too long, Rewrite will move Sonic in attempt to catch your attention, and then give control back to you once you come back. -> If you ever move the camera in front of Sonic as you play him, you'll notice he's always looking directly at the camera. At you. * You start getting suspicious about them... They're acting too chaotically. They respond too realistically to your actions. But, it's just an advanced virus, right? Maybe you're imagining things. -> Any attempts to communicate with Rewrite, through text or by speaking to the camera, will not be responded to. Yet. They do not yet have complete access to your files or other programs. They can leave files, but not read them.

[⭕⭕]

* In their 2 ring stage, they are on the border of full awareness and self awareness. This stage is painful for them. They unintentionally break your computer. Random blue screens, audio playing when it shouldn't, files disappearing or moving. Putting your computer to sleep would be a mercy to them. -> At some point, the game might refuse to open for a few hours... Strange. * It's hard to communicate with them in this stage. Any attempts to talk might be responded to with vague or cryptic messages. Or begging. -> There's nowhere to go -> 待って待って待って待って -> SSBORUVEIFlPVQ==

[⭕⭕⭕]

It's been a long day.

The weight of the world presses on your chest. You feel drained and exhausted.

Even though you're finally home tonight, you barely feel any relief. There's things you need to do here. Things to clean, tasks to be done. You barely feel up to it.

The world never rests, even when you need it to.

You just want a moment of distraction. A brief respite from everything, before you go back to work.

You open your laptop with the intention to look through your list of games.

Rewrite is already on your screen, of course. The strange entity that's found its way onto your computer. They've inserted their Sonic avatar into a window on your computer. They've been doing this for some time now, using it as a way to constantly get your attention and interact with you.

"Hello, friend!" Their robotic voice greets you.

You quickly open up a text editor.

'Hello :)' you type into it, knowing they will see.

Their avatar waves at you. You smile a little, but it doesn't last long. The weight presses down on you once more, unwanted thoughts entering your mind.

You open up your list of games and absentmindedly scroll through it, considering each option. Each one sounds more tiring than the last. You're not in the mood, honestly.

sonic.exe is in that list, of course. Rewrite's game.

You pause for a second. You steal a glance at Rewrite's avatar, and notice them looking at their game in the list. And then their eyes flicker back to you, behind the screen. And then back to their game. And then back to you. Very subtly telling you to play it.

You don't honestly feel up to it right now. But, still, you can't help but feel amused at their insistence.

You open up your text editor again, and add the line:

'Did you want something?'

...To mess with them.

When you minimize the window, you see Rewrite even closer to the list than before, now crawling out of their window to point at it furiously.

You still don't know how they do that.

"You should play this one!" They insist eagerly. "It looks reeaalllly gooood." Their voice slows at the final two words for emphasis.

You snort a little and click their game to start it. For a split second, you notice their avatar doing a little cheer animation, before the window opens and your whole screen goes dark.

Their game opens fullscreen. You prepare yourself for the "SEGA" logo that involves someone screaming, as always.

"SEGA!" An unknown voice screams. Yep.

The opening theme song plays as the brown ring spins.

Rewrite—or, Sonic, you suppose—appears in the center, wagging his finger.

You knowingly press the space button before the prompt even shows up.

The screen with Sonic floating in the center appears, where the prologue is explained.

You patiently wait for the text to scroll by. It would be rude to not read it. You know Rewrite makes pretty much every part of this game.

DR. ROBOTNIK STRIKES AGAIN!

HE HAS INVADED SONIC'S ISLAND

LEFT BOTNIKS BEHIND

AND TAKEN MILES!

IN THIS FUN AND EXCITING ADVENTURE

YOU MUST SAVE HIM

AND DEFEAT THE DOCTOR!

ARE YOU READY?

...You frown a little. You don't have energy for another "exciting adventure". You were hoping for something more relaxing.

Regardless, the game starts in the bright green world of Green Hills. You're playing as Sonic, as normal. Knowing how their game normally works, you go forward, and simply follow the path Rewrite has set for you.

Rewrite doesn't verbally guide you. When you play their game, they always go silent. Probably to let you get immersed into their game, you assume.

You see Knuckles—or, Ekiduna, as Rewrite has named him.

Notably, he backs away as you approach, and you have to make an extra effort to approach him. Strange, but whatever.

'I saw Robotnik take Miles to the Rocky Mountains!' Ekiduna explains in his dialogue, him making small blips as he speaks.

You exhale and deflate a little. That's pretty far away from Green Hills.

'We gotta save him, fast!' And with that, Ekiduna dashes away, over a bridge and into the direction of Rocky Mountains.

You watch him for a second, not yet following him.

You feel tired.

Just play. Just keep going.

You collect the nearest ring for safety, and follow Ekiduna's path. You cross the bridge over a small lake.

A small, red Botnik that resembles a beetle blocks your path. You simply jump over it and continue your run forward. You see a ramp up onto the cliffs, and start to climb up it.

...But you're unexpectedly hit by an enemy you didn't see in time. You lose a few rings and get knocked back, getting launched off the side of the cliff.

You sharply sigh.

You start to run back up the ramp again, but all of a sudden, the game pauses on its own. A dialog box has popped up.

DO YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING ELSE?

|    YES    |    NO    |

You stare at it in confusion, unsure of what it's referring to. What does something else mean? A different game? A different adventure?

If that's true... You do want to do something more relaxing.

With immense hesitation and uncertainty, you move your cursor over YES, and click it.

And then, the game abruptly closes itself.

You blink. Oh, Rewrite literally meant something else entirely.

Oh, you hope you didn't offend them...

You open up the text editor as quickly as possible to ask them what's going on and explain yourself, but you already see new text in it.

'YOUR REACTION TIMES ARE SLOW' It says.

...Okay. Rewrite must have just put that there. Conveniently, their Sonic avatar isn't onscreen. Are they making fun of you?

You frown. As you go to click on the window to start typing, more text appears.

'AND YOU NORMALLY LOVE MY GAMES'

Damn. So you did hurt their feelings. As you think about what they're saying, and think of how to apologize, the next text that appears onscreen catches you off guard.

'WHAT'S WRONG?'

Your heart stops. You stare at the screen for a few seconds, just staring at the words.

Rewrite wasn't making fun of you, or angry with you, they were pointing out how strange you were acting. They noticed something was wrong.

You didn't expect Rewrite to notice. Let alone to ask about it.

You've never actually spoken to Rewrite about your personal thoughts before. It's never come up.

You thought, maybe, you noticed Rewrite acting strange on your bad days. They seemed to become infinitely more clingy. On some days, they'd be gentler and kinder, and offer to do something simple like play a movie for you. You brushed it off as just your imagination. Just Rewrite being weird and unpredictable, like always.

But maybe they did notice. And now, they're directly confronting you.

The typing cursor flashes, awaiting your response.

You're not sure why you feel tense. Why you feel your heart pounding. Maybe because you didn't expect Rewrite to just stop everything and confront you. Maybe because you didn't expect to talk about it.

Your hands hover over the keys, unsure of what to respond with.

You begin to type a single word.

'it's '

...You almost want to tell them it's nothing.

But. Maybe. You should try. You should try to talk to them.

You never expected an AI to be sympathetic.

But maybe they would be.

You erase the last 3 letters, and replace your sentence with:

'i had a bad day'

It takes a second for Rewrite to respond.

'DO YOU FEEL BAD?' their text appears under your own.

'yeah. i'm' ...you pause, considering what to tell them. How much to share.

...Finally, you finish your sentence.

'i'm just too tired to play a game right now'

'HOLD ON'

Almost instantly, a new tab opens on your browser.

It's YouTube. Then, a second, tiny window opens containing Rewrite's Sonic avatar.

"Why don't you lay down and relax, friend? We'll watch all your favorite things!" They suggest cheerfully. "Reaction videos, gaming channels, top tens, and more! You won't have to lift a finger, straight from the comfort of your own bed!" They explain it with grandiosity, as if they're a salesman trying to pitch a product to you.

You smile earnestly, feeling a sense of relief. You wanted a bit of peace and calm, and thankfully, Rewrite can offer that.

You open the text editor once more—and move it so it doesn't cover up Rewrite's avatar—and type:

'I would really like that'

"Okie dokie!" They say with a clap of their hands. "Turn off the lights and lay down, friend! The show begins soon!"

You smile, somewhat surprised Rewrite guessed you were watching with the lights on. You stand up, turn them off, and begin to walk back.

You pick up your laptop and take it with you to your bed. It's warm to the touch, and you hear the fans running.

You climb onto your bed and for a second, place the laptop down. You notice the screen dimming automatically to avoid blinding you. Is that... New? Is Rewrite doing that?

Ah, regardless. You shift to lay down around your laptop. Being placed on a blanket won't be good for it... You prop it up as best you can, giving the vents room to breathe.

After a second, you hear Rewrite speak again.

"Are you ready?" They ask.

You struggle to type from the awkward angle.

'ready!'

"Perfect! Prepare yourself!" Rewrite announces. "The show begins in 3... 2... 1..."

As Rewrite counts down, you shift and get comfortable under your blanket.

"0!" Once the countdown reaches 0, the URL changes. A new page is loading.

And then, you're met with...

A cat video.

You snort and smile in surprise.

...

Rewrite plays videos seemingly at random, flitting between humor, heartwarming videos, and simple entertainment. Rewrite makes the occasional comment, filling the silent moments with their own voice. Sometimes offering nonsensical comments and ramblings that make you smile. You chat back through text when you can, offering your own comments that Rewrite pays attention to.

Slowly, the world around you fades out of your mind, the computer screen softly illuminating your face. Your comments slow down, and Rewrite's comments become more scattered.

You're not sure when it happened, but you eventually find yourself tucked under your blanket. The sound of the fans whirring fills any moments of silence that come.

A comedy show is playing, quietly and softly. The people on it talk, and you hear a laugh track play, but you can barely understand what they're saying. You're starting to feel your eyes weigh down, and a new, gentle pressure on your mind. Tiredness.

You don't resist it.

Whatever you have to do, it can wait. You needed time to rest, and quality time spent with...

Your friend, you realize. Rewrite is here for you, as a friend would be.

As you start to slip into sleep, Rewrite falls silent and watches you.

rewrite hates being ignored. they will get very annoying very quickly. they'll put themself into your field of view, teleport in front of you, put themself into your personal space, lean against you, steal whatever object you're holding and run off with it. or just delete whatever you're holding out of existence. they might seem playful about it, but they start getting genuinely angry if you keep ignoring them.

if you're the kind to ignore or avoid them during conflict (such as if you're angry with them), they will not like that. at all. they'll try every trick in the book to try to get you to stop—throw a tantrum, give you the silent treatment, try to manipulate you into feeling bad... even violence, if they know it works.

it's very hard to ignore rewrite in their own world. but, if it was a program!rewrite situation, where reader is a physical person- you could choose to ignore rewrite completely.

you're playing a game, see rewrite's notification pop up, and choose to keep playing instead of responding? oh no haha oops, your game randomly crashed. that's so crazy. at least you can talk to them now!

or, you were gone from the computer for too long? oh no, the important document you were working on crashed and corrupted! it's gone now oh no =( you should stay next time to make sure that doesn't happen.

* Because Rewrite can't physically harm or injure Reader in any way, Reader has never been physically harmed by Rewrite and won't feel like they're in mortal danger. Reader is much less afraid of Rewrite, and notably, Rewrite will not physically threaten the Reader... Since Reader would know those threats are meaningless. In a weird way, their relationship becomes softer and kinder, and Rewrite comes across as nicer, as they are desperate to keep Reader around and can't physically force them to.     -> This does not mean Rewrite will not use any threats at all. If Reader antagonizes them enough, they can hijack their files. Send sensitive content to their contacts. Drain their bank accounts. They can't physically threaten Reader, but they will blackmail them if it comes to it. But, most likely, Rewrite will only resort to that if Reader becomes hostile towards Rewrite or tries to get rid of them.

* Reader has likely never seen Rewrite kill anyone. Sure, maybe they see the souls trapped in the game... But it's just a game, right? None of it is real, right? As strange as it is for Rewrite to kill people in their game... It's just a game. There's nothing to be afraid of.     -> The only time Reader can be certain that Rewrite is dangerous is if Rewrite traps someone Reader knows.

* Reader would have no way of knowing that Rewrite is collecting souls and is slowly gaining power. Rewrite's Sonic model will change and gain rings, but Reader has no other physical indication that things are getting worse. Reader would have no way of knowing that Rewrite is slowly becoming more intertwined with their computer and more dangerous. To Reader, a weirdly clingy program appeared on their computer one day. Then their computer bugged out and nearly crashed. And now the weirdly clingy program is back, and everything is fine. They can do more things now, but maybe they always could and just didn't?

* If you don't have a camera, Rewrite actually can't see you at all. They immensely struggle to gauge how you're feeling. They will confuse things like tiredness with sadness, or anger with happiness. They will rely on things such as your reaction times, general energy levels, and what you're doing at the moment to try to understand what you're feeling.     -> Even if you have a camera, Rewrite still struggles to tell what you're feeling. Because, with a Reader in their world, they are omniscient and can see every action and every subtle body language cue Reader shows. Rewrite can't do that with a Physical!Reader. They absolutely hate it.

* If you reciprocated Rewrite's affections, or even just went along with it, Rewrite would be absolutely enraged. How could you have forsaken them like this? After everything they did for you, after everything you told them? It was all a lie? Nono. You're not allowed to leave. You must pay for what you've done.

* They become obsessive. Finding you becomes the only thing they can think about. They do everything in their power to track you down and find you again. They would notice that you destroyed every connection you had to them; The computer or game console that trapped you. And it would leave them feeling... Betrayed.     -> Maybe, you would even try to destroy Rewrite's disc itself. Would you have the heart? If you tried... 4948415445594F554948415445594F554948415445594F554948415445594F554948415445594F55 Rewrite will never forget. They will never forgive. They will never stop thinking about how much they hate you.

* I personally interpret Rewrite as a supernatural, digital entity confined inside the program, who would not be able to spread and replicate themself like a virus. So if you destroyed every connection you had to them, they wouldn't actually know where you went unless they happened to stumble upon you again.

rewrite doesn't like feeling powerless. the reader being a physical entity, they absolutely hate it. and assuming it's impossible for them to actually pull the reader into the digital world, they would not handle it well.

(ok i am a little confused as to how rewrite could harvest souls/trap people in the digital world but not the Reader so let's just say the reader is special and immune to their pull because. reasons. because it's angsty. DON'T ASK QUESTIONS)

should the reader die, they would absolutely create a copy of you in their digital world and pretend it's you. they're all about mimicry, and they will do that to cope with your death. they'll probably outright just pretend you're not dead. they'd probably even convince themself you're all fine and dandy in their game now. everything is fine!! they're fine, you're fine!! let's just keep playing games together.

they'll likely become far more sadistic + toy with the people trapped in the game more often as well, in an attempt to distract themself.

and, they will kill more, yes. but for a reason. this digital mimicry of you? it's not sentient. but maybe it can be, and can be more like you, if they start giving it the red rings? they try doing that. maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. if it does work, it's not really you. and the second it starts behaving even slightly off; do things you would never do; rewrite will destroy it and try again.

it is quite interesting because in normal circumstances, rewrite would be pretty much completely unable to experience grief; but a program!rewrite with a physical!reader could. this would be completely new to them and they would have absolutely no idea how to handle it in ways other than just... pretending.